Personal digital assistants have become very popular in recent years because of their lightweight construction and compact design. PDAs provide a compact substitute for bulky address books and daily planners, for example, offering a fully functioning computer that can be stored in a user's pocket.
PDAs are operable as stand alone devices, however, workstation cradles are provided for data synchronization between the PDA and a personal computer. Thus, a user's address books and schedulers in both the PDA and personal computer can be synchronized with each other when there is a change made to either device. The cradle typically includes a plastic molded housing for receiving the PDA. The housing contains an integrated power supply and a serial connection to the workstation. When the PDA is “docked” in the cradle, the palm-top PDA battery may be charged and the applications running on both the PDA and the workstation may be synchronized over a bidirectional serial link.
In most large organizations, several computer workstations are typically linked to a common network. The network may be internal only or it may include a link to the Internet. A user may wish to access the Internet directly through a PDA or, alternatively, a user may wish for data synchronization to be performed between the PDA and the network without linking to a workstation.
A PDA receiving cradle that is integrated into a telephone set is disclosed in United Kingdom Patent Application No. GB2346761. The PDA is dockable within the telephone set for controlling communication functions of the telephone including dialing a number and displaying information regarding incoming calls, for example.
PDA cradles are not currently standardized, therefore, the telephone set of GB2346761 having a PDA receiving cradle built-in is limited because it is only compatible with a particular type of PDA.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a removable cradle for a telephone set that obviates or mitigates the above disadvantages.